Death, taxes, DXC job cuts: Three of life's sure bets

DXC Technologies is spreading some festive cheer by dangling voluntary redundancy (VR) terms in front of customer support teams, according to a confidential document seen by The Register.

Peter Hands, UK and Ireland veep of the “deliver” division confirmed – for the second time in as many months – that DXC was seeking front line employees who were willing to leave by 31 December, with a cheque and their P45.

“Following on from the work we have done in previous quarters, the UK and Ireland business must continue to play its part in driving efficiencies whilst delivering on the commitment to grow our business and improve our margins.

“To help the company and region deliver on these commitments, I am writing to inform you of proposed redundancies within H2 FY18 (Q3 and Q4 combined under a Work Force Reduction (WFR) programme,” said Hands.

When DXC launched in April, senior management set out a $1bn expense purge to boost profits by offshoring jobs from higher to lower wage areas, automation, real estate consolidation and squeezing staff costs in areas including travel.

In May and July, DXC - formerly CSC and HPE Enterprise Services - launched compulsory redundancy programmes, and then in October launched a voluntary scheme.

The company has commenced “collective consultations” about the latest proposals with reps from the UK’s Work’s Council, CSC’s UK Employee Forum and trade unions including Unite, Hands stated in the document.

Staff had from 23 November to close of business on 1 December to apply for the big exit. Those that get the nod to go will leave by the end of the year.

Hands said DXC “hope that we can meet our proposed redundancies in this area through Voluntary Redundancy, we may need to move to Compulsory Redundancy if this cannot be achieved.”

Should this happen, anyone selected for redundancy will begin consultations on 15 January, which is something to look forward to.

DXC is under pressure from contract run-offs, particularly in the UK, where public and private sector customers are seeing their business into the welcoming arms of cloud services providers. Sales in the last quarter ended 30 September fell 3.5 per cent to $6.16bn. Profit came in at $256m, versus a year ago loss of $15m.